Sheriff Tom Knight is pleased to announce the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is hosting its third annual holiday toy drive benefitting the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida’s Guardian ad Litem program. There are currently more than 1,500 children from throughout Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect and as such, appointed a Guardian ad Litem. Because the children range in age from newborn to 18 years old with varying personal needs, the sheriff’s office has chosen to focus the holiday initiative solely on toys and gift cards. Citizens are asked to refrain from donating clothing or stuffed animals and to make sure all donations are new and unwrapped. The initiative begins Sunday, December 1 and continues until Sunday, December 15. Citizens can deliver donations to the agency’s headquarters located at 6010 Cattleridge Blvd., Sarasota, every day between 7:00am - 7:00pm.

Thanks to a partnership with the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Public Safety Department, hospital personnel is generously donating a holiday tree which will serve as the collection site for the toy drive.